Everyday Joy Lists

Since so much emphasis is given to bucket lists, we sometimes lose sight of "everyday joy lists". Ready smiles, frequent hugs, joyful greetings, sincere appreciation, deserved compliments, unexpected treats, satisfying tasks, nature's beauty, amazing meals, marvelous memories, special celebrations, minute milestones, spontaneous laughter and lots of love provide daily joy. The bigger the daily joy list becomes, the more we are able to celebrate moments and create memories rather than always anticipating the future.

Remains of the Tray

My favorite gatherings are those where the slight remains of the trays are consumed in the kitchen, reminiscing about the lovely time enjoyed by all.  

Creating New Memories

Often, when we are faced with grief or change, our instinct is to hold on to the familiar.  However, grief and change require us to do things differently.  When we accept that we can't stop time, it frees us to move forward.

Dread prefaces special occasions and holidays.  Changing the expected celebrations allows us to acknowledge our missing, and create new ways of coping and moving forward.

My birthday came far too close to Edgar's death to anticipate celebration.  However, fabulous family and friends created special new memories to create joy and allow me to move forward.

Start, Stop and Continue

Today has been filled with milestones:

• Start - we celebrated a special colleague's achievement of her U.S. Citizenship
• Stop - we toasted another special colleague's retirement
• Continue - as of today I've run enough miles to be on pace to reach 500 miles by year end: 100 miles over my 2013 annual goal

Life is a series of starts, stops and continuations.  We don't often get to vividly recognize all three phases in a single day.  Celebrations, large and small, provide important connections, acknowledgements and incentives.

Here's to new beginnings, happy conclusions and productive progress achieving!

Hurrah!

It's always fun to achieve a goal, delight a customer or acknowledge a deserving family member or associate.    In our hurried world, it's important to take time to say "hurrah!" when successes are achieved - those of others and our own.  The treadmill of continuous activity can be a detriment to the important celebratory pause.

For Better and Everything Else

I'm wonderfully blessed that my marvelous parents celebrated their 57th anniversary yesterday!  They have been role models for countless others and me.  Their love, inspiration, perseverance, counsel, advice, humor, empathy, tenacity, grit, determination and loyalty have made their journey memorable and inspirational.

Acting When It's Too Important

Sometimes the importance of the occasion paralyzes us.  How do we adequately acknowledge the occasions of those we cherish dearly?  Gift registries assist us in determining what the celebrants desire.  The price tag assigned to these items makes it easy to know how much each requested item costs.  However, it also makes it almost too transparent.  Alternately, Aunt Maude's silver tray might become a more appropriate gift (for the giver) because it has no assigned retail value, but unallocated worth + sentimental value.  But, this might not be a gift that the happy couple values.

Ultimately, we are all happiest when we apply the platinum rule and gift to others items they would like (with or without the assistance of a gift registry) versus gifting items that we would like.

4 Steps of Gift Giving

To encourage myself that I'm making progress in getting ready for Christmas, I've broken gift giving into a four step process:

• Inspiration
• Acquisition
• Preparation
• Celebration

Gift-giving is joyous when you have inspiration for an appropriate gift.  Sometimes even when we determine what we'd like to give, acquisition is impeded by availability.  When substitution is required, the process starts over.  Creativity or simplicity can mark the preparation phase as we wrap our acquisition.  And my favorite step is celebration.  Though it's not always possible, I love spending time with the recipient as she or he unwraps the gift. 

My Christmas list is in various phases of completion.  And since I've already had the joy of celebrating with a very special group of friends, I have those beautiful memories to add to special gifts I've received.

55 Special Years

As I've grown older, more experienced and wiser, my appreciation for my parent's 55 year marriage has increased.  Few of the friends I knew during K-12 had divorced parents, or were otherwise part of single family households, so I assumed that a two parent family was the norm.  As my horizons have expanded, I've learned that family units take many forms. 

And I've learned that regardless of how devoted two persons are to one another, life arbitrarily throws curve balls that cause many well-intentioned couples to strike out. 

My precious parents have weathered many storms, including the unthinkable deaths of both of my brothers, during their 55 year marriage.  Through thick and thin, joy and sadness, they've created a special bond and grateful clan. It's exciting to celebrate their first 55 years with them.

The Money's the Message

It's always fun to find different ways to convey a special message.

Merry Christmas!

The Christmas season is filled with excitement, anticipation and traditions.  So many marvelous sights, sounds and tastes are associated with Christmas.  It's always wonderful to experience the heightened friendliness that is prevalent in most communications.  It's a celebration of the birth of Christ.  And it's a season to spend time with family and friends.

May the love and joy of the Christmas season fill your New Year!